Local Currency Project Aims To Be Game Changer In Social Dynamics [Video]

We’re used to hearing about the positive impact that local currency can have to foster indigineous enterprise but the ambitious ‘Macon Money’ project has attempted to fuse those beneficial effects with pervasive game mechanics.

“Tens of thousands of US dollars’ worth of Macon Money and to earn this currency players cash in bonds that have been distributed to residents of Macon, Georgia. The catch is that each player gets half a bond and to turn it in must find a person holding a matching half. The game builds person to person connections throughout the community while supporting local businesses.

Just like similar local currency initiatives, the local tender is valid in community shops signed up to the scheme, while the interpersonal game mechanics element provides an interesting insight into how suburban socioeconomic atrophy and segregation might be combated.

Macon Money was conceived, designed and built by Area/Code with the help of the Knight Foundation, which commissioned and funded the game as part of their Community-Centric Games Initiative.